Friday, May 9, 2025

The Sun on May 9

This morning, very early about 7h48 (UT5h48), I made some images of the Sun. Tranparency was good and moderate seeing.

Setting:
TLAPO80/480 f/6 with Solex Pro 2nd Gen slit and ASI678MM
Herschel Wedge
Tilt <0,3° and Sx/Sy = 1,1
Software : SharpCap, Inti, Astrosurface, CS4



  

Sunday, May 4, 2025

Sol'Ex May 1 with flare in AR4079

Images of the Sun on May 1, 2025 using my Sol'Ex Pro 2nd Gen Slit. The H-beta shows also a flare in AR4079. I'm also proud of my CaIIH image for which the seeing conditions were very good. This is one of my better CaII image.








Imaging in BaII D2 en MgI B2

How cool is this. I imaged the Barium ion (BaII D2) line at 4554A. I did not expect anything, but it did, with some structure over the entire sun's disk. I seached more in the literature and found that the line is representing the low chromosphere, the same as the MgIb2 line. Thus I imaged the MgIb2 line and compared with the BaII line. Observation: more details in the sunspot, structure is same between Ba and Mg. Interesting is that Ba structure is dark, while the one for Mg is lighter.

According to Olshevsky et al. (2008) and Sütterlin et al. (2001), the core of this line forms at about 700km.







Via a FB post I got feedback from Varadi Nagy Pal on more metal elements which show structure and even faint prominences. For more information see his blog https://csillagtura.ro/
He mentiones Fe, Ni, Sr of which Sol'Ex images are made. I will try to locate them using JSolex Spectrum analyzer. 


Sunspot AR4079 in white light and Barium Ion line

 On May 1 and 2 I was able to image the big sunspot AR4079. One image was made using white light (OIII, IR/UV cut), the other one in Barium II D2 line using my Sol'Ex.





The structure in BaII D2 is clearly visible. The image is not that sharp as this is a crop from an entire sundisk.

Saturday, May 3, 2025

Rotation of the Sun - H-Alpha with Sol'Ex

The sun was imaged from April 26 till May 2nd. Every day one picture with Sol'Ex in H-alpha.
What can we see and learn :
- the Sun rotates
- large structures hold for days

Setting:
TLAPO80/480 with Sol'Ex Pro 2nd Gen Slit and ASI678MM on AZEQ6
Herschel Wedge
Software: Sharpcap, Inti, CS4




ATT Essen.. one week to go!

On Saturday, May 10, 2025, the 40th "Astronomy and Technology Meeting" (ATT) will take place in Essen. The ATT (Astronomie- und Techniktreff) is a trade fair for amateur astronomers and people of all ages interested in astronomy. It is the largest event of its kind in Europe. Here you can admire the latest telescopes and all kinds of accessories, as well as used and do-it-yourself instruments, and exchange experiences with manufacturers and experienced amateurs.

This year some new exhibitors; I'm looking forward to see  ZWO Astro and Proxisky beside the wellknown APP, Bresser, Baader, Celestron, Lunt, Teleskop-Service, Vixen, Explore Scientific, ...





The Sun seen in different wavelengths using Sol'Ex

Using my Sol'Ex I'm able to observe the Sun in different wavelengths. I made a graphics showing my current observations. All observations imaged on May 1, 2025

Setting
TLAPO80/480, Sol'Ex Pro 2nd Gen slit and ASI678MM
Herschel wedge
AZEQ6
Software: Sharpcap, Inti, J'Solex, CS4